New And Unseen Art Exploring Cultural Voice And Climate At Centre Of New Hastings Art Gallery Exhibitions

New exhibitions opening this week at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga – Hastings Art Gallery feature new and never-seen-before work – one exploring our relationships to the natural world and the other showcasing the journey of a nationally significant fashion collective.

Wā We Can’t Afford: Heidi Brickell and Photographing the Pacific Sisters: Vivienne Haldane open on Saturday 22 February.

Heidi Brickell (Te Hika o Pāpāuma, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Tāmaki-nui-ā-Rua, Rongomaiwahine, Rangitāne, Ngāi Tara, Ngāti Apakura, Airihi, Kōtimana, Ingarangi, Tiamana) is based in Ōtaki.

She was the first artist-in-residence under Hastings Art Gallery’s Visiting Artist Programme, spending six weeks in the city late last year. She has a background in Kura Kaupapa Māori education and te reo Māori revitalisation.

Across her practice, Brickell explores how we navigate the world in relation to mātauranga Māori and the human knowledge and wisdom held in relation to our natural environment. Her work uses various forms, techniques and materials, from whakairo and kōwhaiwhai to installation, sculpture and painting.

Brickell has used natural materials in Wā We Can’t Afford, such as paewai (driftwood) and rimurapa (native bull kelp). The rimurapa, traditionally used for preserving food and known for its ability to anchor in rough waters, faces threats from warming seas. Driftwood, while helping to slow coastal erosion and providing habitats, accumulates in rivers and on beaches as forestry slash. It serves as a reminder of Cyclone Gabrielle’s impact on the shores of Te Matau-a-Māui and the East Coast, close to the two-year anniversary of the catastrophic event.

In the gallery, Brickell has created what she describes as an “exploded painting”. Her installation incorporates paint on canvas, bound driftwood and suspended sculptures made from rimurapa, which has been manipulated and dried in different forms.

“To me, the tensions between rimurapa and paewai represent those between Tāne and Tangaroa,” Brickell says.

“In some ways, that’s human knowledge versus chaotic forces that are beyond our control. But we’ve tried to control them and now we’re seeing the backlash with global warming.

“I think of my work like an akiaki – an urging for people to do something.”

Photographing the Pacific Sisters showcases a selection of photographs by Waipukurau-based photographer Vivienne Haldane, who focused her lens on the groundbreaking Pacific Sisters, an art and fashion collective of Pasifika and Māori creatives. The Pacific Sisters began in the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland avant-garde arts scene in the early 1990s.

The exhibition also reflects on the close friendship between Haldane and Hawke’s Bay-based artist Nephi Tupaea, a founder of the Pacific Sisters collective.

The exhibition has three sets of photos – one taken in Auckland, another in Nelson and the final set at Pekapeka Regional Park near Hastings. The images depict artists Rosanna Raymond, Suzanne Tamaki and Tupaea. They showcase the artistry of the sisters, who made their own clothing from natural and recycled materials, using DIY techniques and blending a range of influences. Haldane’s images combine fashion editorial with storytelling, performance, and play. The exhibition has been developed through close discussion with Vivienne and the Sisters.

“They weren’t mainstream, they wanted to express themselves in their own unique way,” Haldane says of the Sisters.

“Having recently graduated as a photographer I was hungry for subjects that captured my imagination – I hope I captured something significant.”

Although some of the Auckland photos have been shown in galleries such as Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Nelson set features images from the 1994 World of Wearable Art Awards, which have never been exhibited before. The Pekapeka set was taken for the Hawai'i Triennial 2022, but the images in this exhibition have never been shown before either.

Tupaea is the only person featured in all three sets.

“We worked together when we lived in Auckland… when Nephi came back to Hawke’s Bay in 2018 our friendship rekindled – it has been amazing,” Haldane says.

“Nephi’s really developed her craft, it has been incredible seeing her success,” she says.

The exhibition also features a vitrine of never-seen before behind-the-scenes shots that had been stored in what Haldane refers to as “’the vault’– a box of photos I’ve dragged around forever”.

Gallery director Sophie Davis says: “We are excited to share these two exhibitions, which demonstrate the power of contemporary artists to provide a new lens.”

“Both these exhibitions have strong links to local community, and are the result of many years of creative work, relationships, and conversations. We are looking forward to seeing the reaction audiences will have when they visit the gallery.”

Both exhibitions will be open and free to visit until 17 May.

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